Lockwork for striking-clocks.



'0. M. GBARING.

LOGKWOBK FOR STRIKING CLOCKS.

APPLIOATION rum) oo'r. 23,1906.

908,767. Patented JaIL 5,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1r (L M. GEARING.

LOGKWORK FOR STBIKING CLOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED OOT. 23,1906.

908,767. Patented-Jan. 5, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CHARLES M. GEARING, OF "BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT.

LOCKWORK FOR STRIKING-CLOCKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

Application filed October 23, 1906. Serial No. 340,130.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. GEARING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bristol, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lockwork for Striking Clocks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lock-work for striking clocks, and the main object of my improvement is economy in construction, although the parts when constructed are believed to be superior to the ordinary wire look-work.

In the accompanying drawing :Figures 1, 2, 3, 4:, 5 and 6, are edge and side views respectively, of the three arbors and attached arms of the lock-work of a striking clock when constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 7 is a detached side view of the half hour lever for the hammer arbor. Fig. 8 is a detached plan view of the blade of the count hook. Fig. 9 is an enlarged side elevation of the hammer arbor. Fig. 10 is a like view of the same as revolved one quarter of. a revolution from the position shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is an end view of the same. Fig. 12 is an edge view of a modified form of hammer and hammer arbor on the same scale as Figs. 1 to 8. Fig. 13 is a side view of the same. Fig. 14 is an edge view of a separate half hour hammer, hammer lever and socket, that are to be mounted on the hammer arbor of Figs. 12 and 13. Fig. 15 is a side view of the same. Fig. 16 is a detached plan or side View of a modified form of blank for two arms for the count hook arbor. Fig. 17 is a detached plan or side View of two arms for the warning arbor in a modified form.

Ordinary lock-work for striking clocks comprises a warning arbor, a count hook arbor, and a hammer arbor, with their respective members or arms. The arbors are made from wire, cut into proper lengths and turned to shape, after which they are drilled through transversely at different angles. The respective members or arms, are formed of wire, the ends of which are inserted into the said holes and riveted in place. These arms or wires vary somewhat in different clocks and they are usually called lock-work or lock-wires.

The lock-work to which I have applied my improvement is an old and well known form of lock-work as to its mode of operation and its general construction, but instead of drilling the arbors and inserting wire members or arms therein, I shape portions of the arbors for receiving the arms or members, form the said members or arms of sheet metal and secure them to the previously shaped portion of the arbors by seating them thereon and upsetting the metal of the arbors to hold the arms in place. Aside from this difference in construction the lockwork herein shown is a copy of wire lockwork now in common use.

The hammer arbor A, Figs. 1, 2, 9, 10

and 11, has the usual pivots 18, at each end,

I also prefer to reduce the diameter of each arbor from the pivot to about the point where the arm or member nearest to each pivot is to be secured. These reduced por- 'tions thus vary somewhat in length but they are so nearly alike in construction and function, that I designate them all by the numeral 19, not only on the hammer arbor but on the count hook arbor B, Figs. 3 and 4, and on the warning arbor C, Figs. 5 and 6. I next slab off the body of the arbor on opposite sides for a short distance inside of each reduced portion and preferably so that the metal between the two slabbed off sides 20 will be about equal in thickness to the diameter of the reduced portions, as best shown in Fig. 9. For the hammer arbor A, I also shave off a portion to form the notch 21 on one side only, at a point between the opposite ends of the body of the said arbor, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. These portions 20 and 21 must have some definite relation to each other, and I prefer to arrange them with parallel sides on each arbor so that they may be cut with a proper tool by a single blow of a press.

The half hour hammer lever 22 is cut from sheet metal by suitable dies and punches into the form shown in Fig. 7, and its head is provided with an eye 23 having a hole of the same shape and about the same size as the arbor A at the slabbed off portions or seats 20. The hammer shank 24 and its short arm 25 are in like manner cut from sheet metal preferably in one piece. The hour hammer lever 26 is also cut from sheet metal with its inner end of a width to fit into the notch 21, when the metal of .the arbor adjacent to the said notch is hammered down to hold the said lever 26 in place. The straight sides of the holes and the seats on the arbor must all be definitely related to each other so that the several members or arms will stand accurately in their proper and intended position when assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be seen by an examination of Figs. 9, and 10, that the non-circular seats or slabbed off portions 20, are at two different points in the length of the said body, and that the portion of the body which is between the, seats at the said two points, is of a greater diameter in one direction than the diameter of the said body at the said seats, while all that portion of each end of the arbor which is outside of the said seats does not exceed their dimensions, so that the eyes of the arms may he slipped on over the opposite. ends of the arbor and be stopped on the seats by the larger diameter of the body ready for being secured thereon by upsetting the metal of the arbor outside of the said arms.

The hammer is seated at one end of the shaft body and the half hour hammer lever at the other end by inserting the said ends through the hole in the eye of thesaid members and then they are secured thereon by a slight upsetting of the metal at the junctionof the. reduced portions 19 and slabbed off portions 20. A head or disk 27 is secured to the outer end ofthe hammer shank to complete the hammer.

The count hook arbor B, is of the same general construction, the hook 28 and arms 29 and 30 each being provided with an eye 23 and secured to the arbor as before described, only the two arms 29 and 30 are secured on one slabbed oif portion and lie side by side so that one staking or upsetting operation secures both of the said arms. Instead of flattening out the blade 31 of the count hook 28 on the end of its body, I form the said blade of a separate piece of thin sheet metal as shown in Fig. 8, and rivet it to the end of the body, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The warning arbor 0, its lever 32 and arms 33 and 3 1, have the same general construction, and, the same reference numerals, when not otherwise specified, are applied thereto. The lever 32 and arm 33, lie side by side when in place, with both eyes on one seat of the arbor so as to be secured, together thereon, the same as the two arms 29 and 30 are secured to one seat or slabbed oii' portion of the arbor B.

The operation of these parts when completed is precisely the same as the operation of the old parts made of wire which they are designed to replace, excepting as they may be. more accurately assembled and being of sheet metal instead of wire, and having their strain come in the edgewise direction of the metal, they are somewhat stiffer than wire and less liable to be bent out of shape.

The hammer arbor and attached parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is designed for having the hour and half hour both struck by the one hammer 27. It is common in the art to have separate hammers for striking the hour and the half hour so that they may strike on different bells, and the hour hammer will not be moved when the half hour hammer strikes. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 12 to 15 inclusive.

The hammer arbor A has the same notch to which the hour hammer lever 26 is secured and the same pivots 18, reduced portions 19, and slabbed ofi portions or seats for the eyes 23 of the difierent arms. The short arm 25 of the hammer is made separate from the hammer shank 24L and the hammer head 27 that is secured to the end of the said shank carries a leather cushion as in prior hammers of the same class. The short arm 25' is secured to one end of the body of the arbor and the hammer shank to the other end. The half hour hammer lever 22" and the hammer shank 249 are made in one piece with a single eye 23 that serves as the eye for both of the said members. Instead of securing these members directly to the arbor they are secured on a slabbed off portion 20 of a socket 36, as shown in Figs. 14 and 15, and in use this socket with. attached parts is mounted on the reduced portion 19 of the arbor at the. right hand side of the hammer shank 24: of Fig. 12.

While I prefer the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 6, and hereinbefore described, such of the lock-work as has two members secured to one seat of their arbor, as are the two left hand members in Figs. 3 and 5, may have the said members out from a single piece of metal with only one eye 23 for the two members, as shown for the two members 29 and 30 in Fig. 16, and for the two members 32 and 33 in Fig. 17. The hole in the eye of any of. the members. shown may be cut or punched during the blanking out operation by means of an or: dinary double die and punch, or if desired the several members may be first blanked out without punching the hole in the eye, as shown in F 16, and then the hole may be punched by a second operation. The particular form of slabbed off seats. and eye. hole withv two parallel straight sides are preferred as the most convenient construction but it is only essential that the said seats, and holes be non-circular with. speclfic relations to, each. other and the sev: eral members, so as to properly. seat and;

hold each member in its intended relations to the other parts.

It is also obvious that any, two members. having a common eye of a single thickness of metal and in one piece with the said members as in Fig. 17 may if desired, be constructed of two separate pieces lying side by side, each with its own eye, as in Fig. 5.

By my improvement there is no drilling of the arbors and the cost of production is materially decreased, especially when clocks are produced by thousands as they generally are. The lock-work produced is believed to be superior to the ordinary wire lock-work and certainly the decrease in cost of production does not in any way impair the product.

I claim as my invention In lock work for striking clocks, an arbor having a cylindrical body portion, a pivot at each end of the said body portion, and slabbed off portions forming non-circular seats at two different points in the length of the said body, that portion of said body which is between the said seats at the said two points being of a greater diameter in one direction than at the said seats While that portion of each end of the arbor which is outside of the said seats does not exceed the dimensions of the said seats, all formed in one piece of metal, and two lock work arms of sheet metal having eyes with straight portions to fit the said seats, the opposite ends of the said arbor body extending in opposite directions through the said eyes of the said arms, the said arms being secured to the said body on the said seats at the opposite ends of the greater diameter of the body portion by upset portions of the metal outside of the said arms.

CHARLES M. GEARING.

lVitnesses:

.ERNEST R. BROWNELL,

WILLIAM L. NEUBAUER. 

